Common disorders and diseases of childhood / by George Frederic Still.

  • George Frederic Still
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Common disorders and diseases of childhood / by George Frederic Still. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    51/752 (page 35)
    Having said thus much as to t]ie theoretical grounds whicli determine the dilution of cow's milk, I hope I shall not appear inconsistent when I say that there is no need whatever to work out mathematical calculations or percentage problems in every case of infant-feeding that comes before us. Common experience has determined what dilution is sufficient to overcome the curd difficulty for a healthy infant with ordinarily good digestion, and as a matter of routine it is more convenient to remember these data of experience in simple terms of dilution than in any f ormulee of percentage composition. Only let the medical man carry in his mind the exact com- position of milk so that at any time, when it may be necessary, he can calculate readily the exact composition of a particular mixture. The ability to do this sometimes means all the dififer- ence between success and failure in infant-feeding, especially in those difficult cases where a minute variation in the proportion of this or that constituent of the feed is sufficient to disturb digestion. For the healthy infant, experience shows that, as a generd rule, the following dilutions are successful : ^Se- Dilution. 3 months .... Equal parts of milk and diluent, b months .... Twice as much milk as diluent. J months .... Three times as much milk as diluent. The advance from one dilution to another is, of course, to be made gradually, the more gradually the better ; and it is always to be remembered that healthy infants vary in their requirements, so that a mixture which may be strong enough to nourish one wni ^' ^^T ^^^ffi^^ent for another; some infants will do well on equal parts of milk and water as early as eight ^hat the ro r ' '^'^^^ I think that the proportions mentioned above may be taken as aood Ii?utnTt?olr;r^^ r-^^^ ---- ---'ten Zt diluting too little than from diluting too much. . -^ae. Milk. At birth One week One month Two months . Throe months Diluent. 1 4 D 2 1 3 1 2 1 U 1 l'